Become a Community Staff Nurse

Posted: Mar 27, 2019Tags: blog, Nursing, healthcare...

Ongoing legislative reviews have supported a growing shift in demand from institutional or hospital-based care to community care. This means there has been a significant rise in job openings for Community Staff Nurses, with many of these opportunities supporting work life balance and enabling individuals to support patients in living healthier and more independent lives.

I sat down with Gill, one of our Community Staff Nurses at Search Healthcare, who gave me some insight into a day in the life of a Community Staff Nurse and why she loves her job.

The appeal of Community Staff Nursing jobs

The 2014 Care Act put the individual at the centre of care plans, with an emphasis on more interaction with the community. As such, there has been a greater demand for Community Staff Nurses (otherwise known as District Nurses) who deliver nursing care to patients within their own homes. This approach is not only beneficial for the patients themselves, but also more cost effective for the healthcare providers.

Prior to becoming a Registered Nurse in 2013, Gill previously held jobs within Community Staff Nursing teams in a non-qualified capacity. She didn’t feel she was suited to hospitals, so when she achieved her nursing qualification, she was pleased to discover she could progress straight to the role of Community Staff Nurse. “It’s a myth that when you qualify you must work in a hospital for a period of 12 months prior to specialising in Community Nursing,” she says.

Gill notes that what differentiates community nursing from hospital-based nursing is the relationships she forges with her patients, saying, “I have found that working with patients one-on-one as a Community Staff Nurse enables me to get to know my patients on a deeper and more meaningful level.”

Gill observes the shift in nursing care from hospital to community, saying: “When I started my career as a Community Staff Nurse, we didn’t provide many of the intensive care services we do today – such as tracheostomies, insulins or peg feeds. Now we give patients the opportunity to be as close to their loved ones as possible whilst receiving the best possible care within the comfort of their own homes.”

A day in the life of a Community Staff Nurse

Gill is enthusiastic about her role as a Community Staff Nurse, and is confident that there will be an increased need for community nursing care in the years to come. “The existence of a community nursing service means that people who need care can go into residential care services, which are much less expensive to run than nursing homes and hospitals,” she says.

Despite the nationwide shortage of Nurses dominating the headlines, Gill maintains she has enough support in her role in order to fulfil her duties and add value to the community. “Although my role as a Community Staff Nurse may be challenging at times, the good news is that I am strongly supported in all aspects of my job. I have a number of people that I know I can always go to for advice, such as my Team Leader.”

While there are many career development opportunities across the overall nursing landscape, Gill loves what she does too much to consider moving away from her current role as Community Staff Nurse. “I love being a Community Staff Nurse who works at the frontlines treating patients and caring for them. I don’t want to be in an office, I want to be with my patients. The higher you climb in your career ladder, the less nursing you end up doing, and that’s not why I became a Nurse in the first place,” she says.

Her passion and enthusiasm for her job as a Community Staff Nurse is infectious. “I enjoy the challenge and working with different teams to see how different people work. Some trusts do things a lot differently, and this gives me the opportunity to learn new tips and tricks to then take back to my permanent role. This not only enhances my skill set, but builds my confidence on a professional level,” she says.

One thing she is clear on is how Search Healthcare, has helped her find a perfect solution to her work-life balance needs. “I feel as though I have really been listened to,” she says. “I thought that an agency would just try to put me on nights in a hospital, which I wouldn’t have been able to commit to. With Search Healthcare however, it’s been perfect and I would thoroughly recommend them,” she concludes.

How Search Healthcare can help you find a job as a Community Staff Nurse

Do you, like Gill, want to make a difference in the community whilst accommodating your need for work life balance? At Search Healthcare, we currently recruit for over 70 Nursing jobs nationwide, with many opportunities to specialise in community nursing care. Our temp nursing jobs also come with a host of benefits, which include:

As much work as you want - either full or part time hours

A dedicated consultant who will be your sole point of contact for all work related matters